Despite self-appointing himself the "son of Detroit," Mitt Romney won't receive a hometown welcome Friday when he arrives at Ford Field to deliver a speech to the Detroit Economic Club.
The United Auto Workers union, a big Democratic donor, will protest Romney's appearance by orchestrating a grand display of American-made cars that spell out "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt." [See a collection of political cartoons on the economy.]
The group is lobbing criticism at the former Massachusetts governor, who vehemently opposed a 2008 bailout package for the state's struggling auto industry. In that year, he wrote a New York Times opinion piece titled "Let Detroit go bankrupt" and argued "a managed bankruptcy may be the only path to the fundamental restructuring the industry needs."
A week ago Romney was losing in Michigan, but a Rasmussen Poll released Friday shows Romney edging out Rick Santorum just days before the Michigan primary by earning 40 percent of the vote against Santorum's 34 percent.
The UAW says their goal is to remind Romney why it isn't wise to bet against Michigan. [The Plan to Break Obama]
"Michiganders won't forget how, in their hour of need, he turned his back on an iconic American industry, the city of Detroit, the state of Michigan and milllions of American jobs," UAW wrote in a note to protestors.
Romney's contentious relationship with the UAW is nothing new. In the 2008 opinion piece, Romney called the union culture of the auto industry "destructive" and advised the automaker's union to take a new direction to regain profits.
- See a collection of political cartoons on the budget and deficit.
- Check out the U.S. News Economic Intelligence blog.
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John of NY 10:18AM February 26, 2012
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